Can USC benefit from less of Lee?

Sept. 16, 2013

Updated Sept. 17, 2013 1:33 p.m.

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USC wide receiver Marqise Lee scores on an 80-yard pass play against Boston College on Saturday. Lee, the reigning Biletnikoff Award winner, made only two catches in the game. CHRIS CARLSON, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

USC wide receiver Marqise Lee scores on an 80-yard pass play against Boston College on Saturday. Lee, the reigning Biletnikoff Award winner, made only two catches in the game. CHRIS CARLSON, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

USC coach Lane Kiffin smirked and shook his head slightly at the question a couple weeks ago.

“Last year we threw the ball to Marqise too much,” Kiffin said. “Now we don’t throw it to him enough.”

Fair point. No matter how receiver Marqise Lee’s stat line looks at the end of a game, Kiffin will take a hit. Either the Trojans are fixated on getting the ball to Lee, to the detriment the rest of the offense, or Kiffin is a bona fide fool for not getting the ball into the hands of one of college football’s most dynamic receivers.

It stands to reason, given his skill, that involving Lee is always a good move. But is it? Lee had an 80-yard touchdown Saturday but finished with only two catches for 90 yards in a victory over Boston College.

Lee, a junior and last year’s Biletnikoff Award winner, has played 28 college games and has been held to fewer than four receptions in five of them. USC is 5-0 in those games and 14-9 in the others.

Statistical anomaly? USC lost Lee’s biggest game, when he had 16 catches for 345 yards against Arizona last year, but throttled UCLA in 2011 when Lee had 13 catches for 224 yards (his second-biggest game).

There’s a theory that Lee-as-decoy sometimes brings more balance to USC. Lee draws double-teams and it’s true the offense looked improved when it spread the ball to eight receivers Saturday. The week before, in a hideous loss to Washington State, USC completed only 11 passes, with seven going to Lee.

Before Saturday’s long touchdown, Lee didn’t have a reception longer than 19 yards this year. Lee has 17 catches, compared to 29 through the first three games of 2012, but said there hasn’t been frustration.

“That’s the thing. It doesn’t bother me as much,” Lee said. “The win is all I care about at the end of the day. Yeah, I appreciate the touchdown and the pass from Cody (Kessler), which was great, but I’m just trying to be myself and make plays for the team.’’

START IT UP

USC announced its Sept. 28 game at Arizona State will start at 7 p.m. (televised by ESPN) or 7:30 p.m. (ESPN2). The decision will be made Sunday.

Also, Saturday's game against Utah State will be televised on ABC in the West and on ESPN2 everywhere else, with a 12:30 p.m. start.

EXIT STRATEGY?

USC athletic director Pat Haden spoke at a USC journalism class last week and indicated he might not be long for his job.

Haden said, when hired in July 2010, he told school president Max Nikias he would stay through the length of USC’s NCAA sanctions. Beyond that?

“I promised him four years and this is my fourth, but 85 percent of the job is fantastic,” Haden said.

“I work at a great university that I love. I went to school here. I met my wife here. My kids went to school here. USC means a lot to me, but it’s an exhausting job. You get into this negativity that you cannot escape. I used to see my grandkids every day. At some point, you turn the reins over, but not right now.”

REMEMBER THEM?

Tight ends Xavier Grimble and Randall Telfer, long ignored in USC’s passing attack, combined to play a large role against Boston College. Grimble caught two passes for 23 yards and Telfer, before he left because of an injury, caught two passes for 17 yards.

That was four catches for USC’s tight ends, which equaled the total catches in the first two games (Grimble had four catches, Telfer had none).

“I believe firmly that both of those guys could play in the NFL today if they had to,” quarterback Cody Kessler said. “We definitely need to get them the ball more, and I felt like we did that (Saturday).’’

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